Tuesday, January 04, 2011

A Plan B Day

Well, I had to ditch Plan A today and go to Plan B. Just one of those days.

I woke up feeling quite good - no obvious symptoms - and assumed I could go ahead with my plan to go to the grocery store. The fridge and cupboards are pretty empty after our week away. I got Craig off to school, did the dishes, and grabbed my laptop to check my e-mail. That's when I noticed my heart was pounding. I was just sitting on the couch (with my feet up even), and my heart rate was sky high, as if I'd been running! I laid down and drank two huge glasses of V-8 juice, but my OI was still off the charts. I didn't do that much yesterday, so I'm guessing maybe my immune system is going a bit berserk from being exposed to Ken's cold (he's still home sick).

So, it was onto Plan B. This is actually one of the side benefits of living with CFS. I've become a lot more flexible because I've had to. In my past life, I liked to stick with my plans (some might even say I was a bit controlling), and I would get upset if I couldn't do what I'd planned. Now it's a daily occurrence. At first, I still got upset every time I had to change my plans, but not anymore.

Now, when I start to feel sick like I did this morning and realize I can't do what I want to, I just think to myself, "OK, what's my Plan B?" Today, even though I initially thought I HAD to get to the grocery store, I thought about the alternatives. I realized I had enough food in the house to cobble together one more dinner (thank you, Trader Joe's!), Jamie could take a ham sandwich tomorrow instead of his usual peanut butter and banana (no more bananas), and we could grab some juice from the drugstore on the corner. There. Done.

So, I laid back on the couch, rested, and am hoping to get to the grocery store tomorrow...unless I have to go to Plan B...

Plan Bs are soo important! Any shortcut you can make to take care of yourself is important! The other day I had the same predicament. Instead of going out to buy food, I thawed out some chicken sausage. I sauteed them with frozen cut peppers and an onion for dinner. Thank goodness for frozen veggies from Trader Joes!

I've had the very same thing happen to me! I've come to accept having to have alternate plans often in my day to day; as a matter of fact, today was one of those days for me as well and I am okay with not having done what I had planned to. Not to say I won't have a day when this upsets me terribly, but I'm glad that doesn't happen as often as it used to. Hope you're feeling well again soon so have a Plan A day!

I have had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS or CFIDS) since March 2002. My 19-year old and 16-year old sons also have CFS, and my older son also has Lyme disease plus two other tick infections. This blog is about how our family is learning to live with chronic illness, with a focus on living and enjoying our lives in spite of these challenges.